I personally would take a $100 unhandled horse before I would take a $100 trained horse. I don't know, it may just be an odd quirk of mine but I just don't trust a horse that anyone outside my family has trained. I never know what abuse they may have had or what holes might be in their training. It is more comforting to me to ride a horse that is very green and "might" blow up if I touch him with a heel rather than one that has been trained and is well behaved but "will" blow up if you touch him with a heel because he has been abused with spurs but the previous rider fails to mention that. I just prefer riding a horse that I know exactly where he is at in his training and what I can expect of him and push him toward.

Personally I would go with the young untrained horse. I train horses.. so its not a big deal for me to buy an untrained one. But if you don't have the means to train it.. you find a trainer who suits you. No two trainers will be exactly alike. We all have our ways and our own experiences. And you become as much apart of the horses training you can. Then think of it as having a horse trained for you specifically. Not joe and jane down the road. That's my honest opinion.
And as Smrobs said... you never really know the history of an older horse. Even if you contact every owner. Because if some sort of abuse went on... its not like they will be open and tell you.

Don't worry about it, it's a good question. I've even asked people the same.

I personally, dislike younger horses. I grew up riding MANY green broke, young horses. I am tired of riding and training horses and dealing with their issues. I spent more time worrying about the horse and what could happen while riding and training he/she - instead of working on me, enjoying myself and having fun.

I see people around me getting 2/3 year old OTTB's and I just shake my head - not my cup my of tea. I don't care that the horse was $200, or free, or $1,500, I don't envy them with all the crap they are going to have to go through to get the horse to the point of education/training/level that they have hopes to get he/she too.

I personally, would rather get a horse that is older and has alot of time under saddle. It is a pleasure being on a horse that already knows what it is that I am asking. It is wonderful to focus on myself *seat, legs, upper body, hands, elbows, chest* while in the saddle knowing that my horse will put up with whatever it is that I am doing and just get the job done.

I like being on a horse that knows what he/she is doing. More relaxing, more enjoyable for me.

I've spent years riding unpredictable youngin's - and I'm not doing it again. Don't get me wrong, it taught me alot. The experiences I've obtained while working, riding, training young horses have made me the rider I am today, but on the other side of the spectrum, I've gathered many holes in my training because of it - due to putting so much effort and attention to the horse, I forgot about me.

I personally like having one of each, one trained that I can do whatever with and one young one as a project. Currently that is what I have. So It would depend if I had only one or the other as to which I would buy.

Save money by getting a younger horse and training it or
Spend more money on getting an older horse that is already trained?

Just curious to see what people would do!

Do you want to ride right now or are you willing to wait 2-3 years. That's the question you need answered. The other is, do you have the experience it takes to put a good foundation on a young horse and the time it will take to do it.

I bought my draft at 2 years old. Vet said no riding until after he turned four. So I spent two years of solid ground work. When it came time to ride I didn't have a bridle or saddle big enough to fit him so I broke him in his halter and bareback.

If you aren't going to rush the training, go for the younger horse. If you want to ride now or soon, buy the broke horse.

It really depends on what you want to do. If you just wanted a nice trail horse, course, go for an older school master, you don't need to put in the hard yards that way dealing with the baby tantrums.
However, if you are looking at being a competitive rider in the higher levels of your chosen discipline and wanting to be there NOW, then the school master again would be the way to go, however the money involved can be enormous. As anabel stated previously, you can be looking at $150 000+++ for an FEI schoolmaster (for dressage i'm talking) .
Personally, I don't have that sort of money to spend on what really is simply a hobby. I enjoy starting with the younger horses. You know their history, and there is less chance of them picking up hugely irritating bad habits if they've had limited handling.
I am currently looking for anything from a weanling to a breaker at the moment as my next dressage horse. Not interested in something under saddle unless it is very green and I know the breaker that has broken the horse, or at least the owner/rider.
As smrobs said above, I would prefer to start with a young horse of limited handling, for the biggest reason of being able to know the horse inside out. Get to know it's quirks, and know that you are the person who has taught it what it knows, thus being able to predict the behaviour of the horse more efficiently.

I am always wary of horses that are under saddle when I'm test riding them. You have no idea what they might do, no idea what test they might throw at you so I am always on alert. With a horse I've started from scratch with, I feel far more comfortable knowing most of the bad behaviour and triggers it will throw at me.

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